About IVS

Committees: VGOS Technical Committee

Purpose The primary function of the VGOS Technical Committee (formerly VLBI2010 Committee) is to promote and guide research into the improvement of the "technique" of geodetic VLBI. The committee takes an integrated view of VLBI and evaluates the effectiveness of proposed system changes based on the degree to which they improve IVS’s final products. In addition, the committee takes responsibility for encouraging the implementation of the recommendations of WG3.

The VGOS Technical Committee typically gains understanding of the effectiveness of new hardware, software, strategies, etc through the use of combinations of the following approaches:

Analytic studies
Simulations
Prototyping
R&D experiments
Re-analysis or interpretation of previous campaigns or global data sets
Inter-technique co-location studies

Over time, the VGOS Technical Committee will develop and maintain outputs, such as

A list of all known error sources (along with their size, effect, and characterization)
A list of strategies for reducing all known error sources
A prioritized list of actions required to improve the technique
A list of all standard interfaces needed to achieve system-wide compatibility
Standardized specifications for each system component
Publicly available software, e.g. to carry out simulations

Ongoing activities will include

The establishment and maintenance of a memo series
Monthly telecons (with splinter telecons as required)
Face-to-face meetings (scheduled at convenient times such as the IVS GM)

Face-to-face meetings

First VLBI2010 Working Meeting: 15 September 2006, MIT Haystack Observatory, USA [meeting info with discussion papers]
Second VLBI2010 Working Meeting: 15 April 2007, Vienna, Austria
Third VLBI2010 Working Meeting: 14 September 2007, University of Bonn, Germany [some meeting info]
VLBI2010 Workshop on Future Radio Frequencies and Feeds: 18-20 March 2009, Wettzell/Hoellenstein, Germany [meeting info with presentations]

Reports

D. Behrend et al.: Recent Progress in the VLBI2010 Development. In: M.G. Sideris (ed.), Observing our Changing Earth, International Association of Geodesy Symposia 113, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 833–840, 2009. (submittal version)
B. Petrachenko et al.: Design Aspects of the VLBI2010 System. Progress Report of the VLBI2010 Committee. A version of this report was published as NASA Technical Memorandum NASA/TM-2009-214180. Printed copies can be requested from the Coordinating Center by sending an e-mail to Dirk Behrend; there is only a limited number available. The progress report is also included as special report in the 2008 IVS Annual Report.

Seminars

Eskil Varenius: Station Amplitude Calibration: Why we need it and how to do it. Online seminar given on April 8, 2021. A recording of the seminar is available at the IVS Office for Outreach and Communications at: https://vlbi.org/2021/04/12/seminar-stations-amplitude-calibration/. Erratum: The original presentation file used an incorrect formula on slide 4. The updated PDF has the correct version (while the recorded seminar shows the incorrect one).

Committee Members
Gino Tuccari (Chair), INAF/IRA
Dirk Behrend (ex officio), NVI, Inc./GSFC
Johannes Böhm, TU Vienna
Arnaud Collioud, Bordeaux Observatory
Brian Corey, MIT Haystack Observatory
John Gipson, NVI, Inc./GSFC
Rüdiger Haas, Onsala Space Observatory
Yasuhiro Koyama, NICT
Dan MacMillan, NVI, Inc./GSFC
Zinovy Malkin, Pulkovo Observatory
Arthur Niell, MIT Haystack Observatory
Bill Petrachenko NRCan

Mail
Send mail to the Committee
Read mail (restricted access only)

The charter for the committee was accepted at the September 12, 2005 Directing Board meeting.